Refrigerator cabinet including means for preventing condensation



Patented May/'4, 1948 REFRIGERATOR CABINET INCLUDING MEANS FOR PREVENTING CONDENSA- TION Walter Peglow, Cazenovia, N. Y., assignor to Carrier Corporation, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 7, 1945, Serial No. 814,928

8 Claims. E

This invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and more particularly to refrigerator cabinets such as home freezers including a center stile against which doors of the cabinet seal and which include means for preventing condensation at the exposed surface of the center stile.

Heretofore, various manufacturers have presented cabinet structures in which the door extends over the full width of the cabinet. When such design was applied to cabinets with double doors it was not generally successful. If the doors are placed substantially in contact at the center of the cabinet, the center stile, against which the doors seal, collects condensate or shows signs of sweating when the structure is in use. This problem becomes greater if this flush door type of cabinet is employed as a home freezer due to the low interior temperature maintained in the cabinet. Various structures have been presented in an eflort to solve this problem of condensate collection at the center stile. None has been particularly successful. The structures proposed were expensive, inemcient, unsatisfactory and, as a matter of fact, failed to solve the problem.

The chief object of this invention is to provide a refrigeration cabinet which includes means for obviating the collection of condensate or sweating at the exposed surface of the center stile.

An object of the invention is to provide a refrigeration cabinet of the flush door type embodying in its structure means which prevent the collection of condensate at the center stile.

A further object is to provide a refrigeration cabinet in which warmed air from the machine compartment is passed over the exposed surfaces of the center stile to warm and dry the exposed stile surface including the door edges thus preventing condensation of moisture from the ambient air at such surfaces.

A still further object is to provide a novel design of refrigeration cabinet of the flush door type embodying means for maintaining the exterior exposed surface of the center stile in a dry, warm condition without impairing to any substantial extent the temperature of the cabinet interior. Other objects of my invention will be readily perceived from the following description.

This invention relates to a refrigeration cabinet which comprises in combination a frame including a stile, a portion of the exterior surface of the stile being exposed to ambient air, said frame forming a storage compartment, said compartment being adapted to be maintained at a temperature lower than the temperature of the ambient air, a plurality of doors closing said storage compartment, the doors having recesses in their adjoining edges and being disposed in slightly spaced apart relation (having their edges substantially in contact or substantially flush when the doors are closed), the recesses forming a channel or flue extending along the stile, and means for passing warmed air at a temperature higher than the temperature of ambient air into said channel thereby preventing condensation of moisture from the ambient air at the exposed surface of the stile when the cabinet is in use.

The attached drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the refrisz' eration cabinet of my invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the cabinet shown Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along th line 34 ofFigure 1; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line H of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a refrigeration cabinet 2 of the flush door type including a storage compartment 8 and a machine compartment l for the accommodation of compressor and associated elements 5 of a refrigeration system. The storage compartment 3 is disposed above the machine compartment 6. As is customary in cabinets of this type, the compressor, condenser. driving mechanism, etc., is placed in the machine compartment and a suit able heat exchanger or evaporator is placed ii the storage compartment and connected to thcondenser by a suitable liquid conduit. Thes elements per se form no part of my invention and consequently are not shown in detail.

The cabinet 2 includes metal or wood longitudinal frame members 8 at its corners and connecting elements are provided between the various corner members to form the whole into a'unitary frame for the cabinet. An exterior wall I having any suitable decorative surface conceals the frame. Interiorly of the frame there is provided an interior liner or wall 8 which forms the storage compartment 8. Insulation 9 of any suitable type, for example, cork board, mineral wool, fiberboard or the like, is interposed between walls 7 and 8 surrounding compartment 3 on all sides.

A stile or 'mullion 06 forms a portion of the unitary frame extending perpendicularly of the storage compartment. Stile it divides one side of the storage compartment into a plurality of openings to permit access to the compartment for placement and removal of stored foodstuffs,

for example. The openings in the compartment 3 are closed by doors i I which are suspended from supports 6 of the frame by hinges l2. The doors II are substantially flush at the center stile III; that is, the exterior surfaces of doors H are slightly spaced apart but present the appearance of being substantially in contact with one another. Gaskets [3 are interposed between the doors ii and the walls of the cabinet 2 thus securely sealing the storage compartment 3 and preventing ingress of ambient air.

The adjacent edges l4 and ll of doors ll are formed with recesses l5 and [5' which form side walls of a channel or flue I6 extending substan-' tially perpendicularly of the cabinet 2 at the center stile ill; the exposed exterior surface of stile l forms the rear wall of channel Hi. ,It will be noted the gaskets l3 securely seal channel it from the interior of storage compartment 3.

Machine compartment 4 may be closed in any desired manner, preferably, by a panel I! hinged across the front thereof. An opening l8 isprovided in the upper flange of panel II to permit warmed air from the compressor element of the refrigeration unit to pass through opening l8 into channel It; the warmed air rises in channel It to the top of the refrigeration compartment. Such warmed air dries the edges l4 and N of doors i i and the exposed surface of stile I0 thus preventing condensation of moisture from the ambient air at the exposed surface of stile Hi. In some cases, baiiles IQ of any suitable construction may be provided in the machine compartment to guide warmed air from compressor and associated elements 5 to open ing l8 whence it passes into and rises in channel Hi.

My invention provides a simple economical cabinet construction which obviates the collection of condensate at the exposed surface of the center stile. The construction so provided retains the appearance of flush door types of structures and prevents condensation at the center stile without increasing the cost of the structure. My invention permits the desired appearance of flush-door types of structures to be retained while eliminating a disadvantage inherent in such structures without increase in the cost of manufacture or operation. The invention is particularly adapted for domestic refrigerator and home freezer structures.

Sweating of the center stile is obviated and the exposed surface thereof is maintained dry and warm.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood my 2. In a refrigeration cabinet, the combination of a frame including a stile, a portion of the surface of said stile being exposed to ambient air, said frame forming a compartment for the reception of elements of a refrigeration unit and a storage compartment disposed above the unit compartment, said storage compartment being adapted to be maintained at a lower temperature than the ambient air, doors suspended from said frame closing said storage compartment, said doors having their adjacent edges, substantially in contact with one another, a recess in at least one of said substantially contacting edges forming a, channel extending substantially perpendicularly of the cabinet, the stile forming the rear wall of the channel, and means for passing warmed air from the bottom compartment to said channel thereby obviating collection of moisture at the exposed surface of the stile when the cabinet is in use.

3. A refrigeration cabinet according to claim 2 in which bafiies are provided in the unit compartment to direct warmed air into the channel.

4. In a refrigeration cabinet, the combination of a frame including a stile, a portion of the surface of the stile being exposed to ambient air, said frame forming a storage compartment, said compartment being adapted to be maintained at a temperature lower than the temperature of the ambient air, a plurality of doors closing said storage compartment, the edges of said doors being disposed in spaced relation to form a channel extendin along the exposed surface of the stile, and means for directing air at a temperature higher than the temperature of ambient air through said channel thereby obviating collection of moisture at the exposed surface of the stile when the cabinet is in use.

5. In a refrigeration cabinet, the combination of a frame including a stile, a portion of the surface of the stile being exposed to ambient air, said frame forming a storage compartment, insulation material disposed about said storage compartment, said compartment being adapted to be maintained at a temperature lower than the temperature of the ambient air, said compartment having openings therein on opposite sides of said stile to permit access to the compartment, doors invention is not limited thereto since it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. in a refrigeration cabinet, the combination of a frame including a stile, a portion of the surface of said stile being exposed to ambient air, said frame forming a compartment for the reception of elements of a refrigeration unit and a storage compartment, doors closing said storage compartment, said doors being disposed in spaced relation to form side walls of a channel extending along the stile, and means for passing warmed air from the bottom unit compartment to said channel, the warmed air passing upwardly in said channel thereby obviating collection of moisture at the exposed surface of the stile when the cabinet is in use.

closing said openings, said doors having their adjacent edges substantially in contact with one another, at least one of said doors having a recess in its adjacent edge to form a channel extending substantially perpendicularly of said stile, said stile forming the rear wall of said channel, and means for passing air at a temperature higher than the temperature of ambient air into said channel thereby obviating sweating of the exposed portion of the stile when the cabinet is in use.

6. In a refrigeration cabinet, the combination of a frame including a stile, a portion of the surface of the stile being exposed to ambient air, said frame forming a top storage compartment and a bottom compartment for the reception of elements of a refrigeration unit, said storage compartment being adapted to be maintained at a temperature lower than the temperature of the ambient air, insulation material disposed about said storage compartment, said compartment having openings therein on opposite sides of said stile to permit access to said compartment, doors closing said openings, said doors having their adjacent edges in substantially contacting relation, recesses in said edges cooperating to form side walls of a. channel, the stile forming the rear wall of the channel, said bottom compartment having an opening therein leading to said channel, and a refrigeration element in said bottom compartment adapted to warm air whereby air so warmed passes through said opening into said channel and upwardly therein along the exposed surface of the stile to maintain such surface in a dry condition.

'7. A cabinet structure according to claim 6 in which sealing means are disposed between the doors and the stile to prevent ingress of warmed air into the storage compartment.

8; A cabinet structure according to claim 6 in which a bafile is provided to direct air warmed. by

said element through the opening in the bottom panel into the channel.

. WALTER PEGLOW.

Knight Dec. 27, 1938 

